1976 Gibson Thunderbird Bass Natural Flametop 5-String Custom Bass - WHAT??

Here is something I know you've NEVER seen.  One-of-a-kind. 

What an amazingly-unique instrument, crafted from a vintage 70's Thunderbird Bass (REVERSE body style), this was modded 20+ years ago to make it a 5-string flametop!   I'm serious.   I've owned it for at least 20 years now, and bought it from the player who had the whim to get this done.   Gibson did not offer the Thunderbird in a 5-string configuration, although there was "Studio 5" for a couple years in the mid 2000's, and the newer Epi "Pro-V".  So this is likely the only Gibson Thunderbird "high C" 5-string on the planet, actually crafted from a 70's 4-string Thunderbird bass!  And yes, please note:  the 5'th string is currently a high "C", not a low "B".  I was attracted to it, as a prior guitarist, for the soloing aspect of the range. But.... I honestly think it could easily be converted to a low "B" setup.   The nut might need a some notch tweaking, or worst case a new nut.    

OK, so this was sold to me as a "1976", but who knows... it seemed plausible because, 1) the parts that came with it, i.e., the original 3-point bridge and pickguard, were clearly 70's parts, and 2) the hard-shell case is clearly a 70's Thunderbird case.  Also, #3, and most important:  the body and neck, from the back, clearly show the multi-piece 9-piece construction that was being used.  It is a "neck-through" design with walnut "strips" the entire length of the mahogany body, that go all the way to the end of the headstock.  The back of the guitar and back of neck has original finish, and is in remarkable EX condition.  To get a flame maple top, a laminate/veneer was added to the top and also the headstock.    

Again, the underlying Thunderbird bass here has a beautifully-grained, gorgeous 9-piece mahogany/walnut body and neck... a "neck through body" design (and Gibson's first neck-through-body bass in '63).  During the "remodel", the rosewood fingerboard was overlayed or replaced with an ebony one... and the frets are still pretty much like new.  It has GHS Boomers:  .030 - .100, rounds on it.   Although narrow at the nut (1.5"), it is a great playing slim neck, and gets considerably wider as you go down the neck (2/17" at 12'th fret).  There are 14 frets before the neck joins body, and 20 frets in total.  I do not notice any "neck dive" (from having too heavy of a neck) here.

No denying it's a pretty stunning look.

Lots of changes:  a new black plastic nut was installed. Five chrome Japanese-marked (probably Gotoh) tuners installed (the original tuner holes were plugged and finished over, and then the new ones installed).  The pickups and all wiring were also changed.  The pickups are Gotoh (there is no 9v battery), and the back of the neck pickup is marked "RBH-50F".  These are good quality parts, especially from Gotoh/Japan back in those days.  But tough to find out info on the bass pickups here-- they appear to be modeled after Bartolini's or EMG's (but these are passive--  no active EQ, here).  I suspect some routing occurred to allow for the new 5-string spacing-- these measure 4" across, wider than the original Gibson soapbars.  I should mention that these pickups are very high-output (I measure 13.07k and 12.35k ohms, respectively, compared to standard Gibsons under 10k), and I think they sound great-- clean, round tones.   

A MASSIVE chrome Gotoh bridge on top of a black base was put on to handle the 5 strings and add significant sustain.... again, a high-quality and heavy part.  It looks like a 206 bridge (like on the Fender Roscoe Beck 5).   The pickguard was not put back on, in order to show off the flametop, and it is already sold.  I am selling the original 3-point bridge/tailpiece that came with it in another listing.  The top still has its gorgeous, now-aged original binding, the back and sides appear to have original finish, and bass still has original truss rod cover.   Two two mini-toggle switches were installed (they are phase switches for each PU, with an "off" position in the center), and the tone/volume knobs are knurled chrome fender-style.  Note there are only 2 knobs-- one TONE and one VOLUME.  Original Gibsons have the phone jack on top, but this one was put on the corner edge, when it was re-wired.  As a final feature worth mentioning-- the PU surrounds are made of... yes... wood (also appear to be ebony or some exotic)!  

It also has the original Gibson hardshell case, with 70's purple lining, complete with all the cool straps inside to secure the base and the pocket.  If you look at later 70's TBIRD cases, this one is different, but it is clearly a 70's case... it's got to be the case for the original bass, especially the way it is contoured specifically for a TBIRD.  As a bonus, there is a vintage (70's) wide leather strap with strap locks installed (the bass appears to have the original strap pin on the treble bout, but the other two are for the strap-lock strap). 

Some other details:  These usually weigh over 10 lbs, but this bass weighs in at 9.85 lbs.  I caught a bass once about that size... the large-mouthed variety, lol.  (Cymbal crash here).  Speaking of that, it looks like there was a repair to the neck at the joint, where it took a hit.  It looks like a little wood fill repair and refinish was done there, but it was not a clean break.   Again, the fingerboard is ebony and has a very clean look, with no markers, except on side-- very nice and clean look.  They used ebony on TBIRDS in the 90's, but most have been rosewood.  Personally, being an upright player, I LOVE the clean, crisp sound of ebony on a fingerboard.  And the new frets are in near-new shape.  The serial number was removed from back of headstock when refinished.   

I wish I knew the details of this project and was able to talk to the luthier who did it.  It was professionally done.   It was an extensive remodel.  It is a bit of mystery, unless the prior owner or builder sees this and emails me.  All I know it is one cool, and unique, screaming bass with some cool mojo and some modern twists.    

Again, you will not find a unique, customized bass quite like this... unless you go to the expense of having it made.  If it talks to you, as a 5-string classic 70's Thunderbird with a flame top, it could be the one.  You have the classic reverse Gibson Thunderbird, an iconic bass that made its debut in 1963 (while Gibson was struggling to compete with Fender, who issued the '51 PBASS that became the "standard"), with modern twists.